Entertainment as Pleasurable and Meaningful: Identifying Hedonic and Eudaimonic Motivations for Entertainment Consumption
2011/10/01 by Mary Beth Oliver, Arthur A. Raney · 716 citations
Arts and Humanities · Business, Management and Accounting · Psychology · Social Sciences · #Advertising #Art #Business #Consumer Behavior in Brand Consumption and Identification #Consumption (sociology) #Entertainment #Eudaimonia #Law #Media Influence and Health #Media studies #Media, Gender, and Advertising #Political science #Psychology #Social science #Sociology #Visual arts
paper · doi:10.1111/j.1460-2466.2011.01585.x
published in Journal of Communication 61(5), 984-1004 (Oxford University Press)
openalex publication_date 2011/10/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/25
Abstract
The purpose of this research is to broaden the conceptualization of entertainment selection to identify not only pleasure-seeking (hedonic concerns) as a motivator, but to also recognize that individuals may choose media as a means of “truth-seeking” (eudaimonic concerns). This article conceptualized and developed measures to illustrate that entertainment can be used as a means of experiencing not only enjoyment, but also as a means of grappling with questions such as life's purpose and human meaningfulness. Four studies were conducted in the development of these measures, providing evidence for their validity in terms of entertainment preference and individual differences, and illustrating how these motivations predict preferences for entertainment that elicits unique affective experiences.
Citations
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